The present subject matter relates generally to systems and methods for evaluating a brain scan. More specifically, the present invention relates to objective systems and methods for evaluating a brain scan using reference data to detect acute injury, such as a concussion, or detecting chronic injury such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Brain injury, such as a concussion, can cause physiological and psychological problems, and even disability or death. Repeated brain injury, an unfortunately common occurrence in professional athletics, such as football or boxing, may cause serious conditions later in life, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy. However, the lack of the highly noticeable external signs and symptoms cause clinicians to fail to identify brain injuries caused by head trauma. Further, it is known that athletes may minimize their symptoms to remain in competition. Thus, there is a need to detect brain injury caused by head trauma, particularly at the location the injury occurs, such as on the sidelines or in the locker room at a sporting event.
Previous attempts to detect injury to the brain have used non-invasive techniques such as CT scans, MRI, etc. that produce scans read by a physician. These scan techniques rely on the ability to detect structural damage from visual inspection of scan images. But, in the case of mild injury, such as that associated with concussions, the physiological or anatomical changes may not be present in scan images or may be faint. Further, detection of injury by physicians from visual inspection of scan images may be unreliable due to the skill level of the physician or subjective interpretation of the faint injury in the scan images. Moreover, these tests and devices require dedicated facilities and are not readily available at the point of injury.
Currently there is no practical objective method of diagnosing concussions. The visual output provided by conventional models of diagnostic medical imaging, such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are not sensitive enough to detect the subtle brain injuries incurred in concussive events. And while newer neuroimaging technologies and histological testing techniques have proven successful in detecting biomarkers for concussion, none is practically suited for immediate, on-site diagnosis of concussions at sporting events.
Presently, sideline healthcare providers administer a series of tests to evaluate a patient's subjective responses to twenty-four questions about symptoms, which are presumed to be a diagnostic of concussion. Thereafter, the patient is simply observed over time to see whether these subjective symptoms manifested themselves in the patient. Recent advancements in identifying diagnostic biomarkers for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are limited to expensive and invasive tests that are impractical for timely on-site diagnostic testing and post-injury periodic follow up tests, including highly specialized magnetic resonance (MR) techniques, positron emission tomography (PET) scans and laboratory tests of brain tissue, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), blood serum, and cell cultures.
The lack of an objective diagnostic tool to confirm or rule out a concussion leads to unnecessary delays in diagnosis and treatment during a vital time period, the “Golden Hour” (the first hour after a concussive injury occurred), which can allow an untreated concussive injury to worsen. The lack of a definitive diagnosis also impacts a coaching staff's decision as whether to return a potentially injured athlete to a game or practice, leaving the injured person exposed to the very circumstances that might aggravate his existing injuries.
Traditional markers of mTBI include loss of consciousness, post-traumatic amnesia, Glasgow coma scale, (day of injury) conventional CT, and post-concussion syndrome are either indirect or inconclusive of neuropathological injury caused by mTBI. It is known that Biomarkers may be used to identify mTBI, but the newest means of detecting biomarkers of mTBI, such as specialized neuroimaging technologies and techniques and cell culture and blood and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) analyses, are expensive, time-consuming, and highly invasive.
What is needed is one or more scan evaluation techniques that enable the detection of brain injuries that are not readily apparent from visual inspection of the scan data. Further what is needed is scan evaluation techniques that are objective and do not rely on the skill level of the physician or a subjective interpretation of the scan images.
Accordingly, there is a need for objective systems and methods for evaluating a brain scan using reference data, as described herein.